Arbitrator: Shuttered Tylersville Sunoco worth $1.5M

An arbitrator has determined the Butler County Engineer’s Office must pay the owners of the former Sunoco gas station on Tylersville Road $1.5 million for a widening project.

The $1.8 million — construction costs only — project has been delayed and will now not start until 2019. That project entails adding a westbound lane from the interstate to Cox Road. Obtaining right-of-way has been a challenge, including the recently settled sale of the gas station.

“We had $1.15 million as what the property would cost. They would not agree to that amount,” Alan Steele with the engineer’s office told the Journal-News. “It comes to they were using a comp (comparison) for the Thorntons, that have like 12 or 13, 14 pumps and big convenience store. We were using a four-pump, self serve with a small convenience store as a comp. So that’s where naturally we weren’t coming up with the same numbers.”

The negotiation went to arbitration and a judge decided the county must pay an additional $400,000, which the commissioners approved this week.

The county needs to take out that building so they can build a road to the service road in the back where business entrances will be relocated.